I-Is he waiting for me...to jump into his arms? In the years I’d spent with Lord Nazel, I’d come to clearly understand what his gestures meant. Right now, he was smiling widely with his arms spread open. He wasn’t going to move until I went to him. Lord Nazel could be a little mean when it came to things like this and he secretly enjoyed seeing me nervous or embarrassed.
Ugh, it’s embarrassing, but I have to go to him. I timidly walked up to him and jumped into his chest with a “Hup!” Lord Nazel caught me properly and hugged me tightly. He smelled nice, like soap.
“Haaah, you’re adorable, Agnes... I missed you. I’ve been low on Agnes particles since early morning.” I’d also gotten used to the incomprehensible things Lord Nazel sometimes said. I was certain he must have gone crazy with stress from how busy his work had been.
“You seem tired, Lord Nazel.”
“Aaah, you smell so nice,” Lord Nazel said, sniffing me. He stood still with his face buried into my hair; I was speechless.
“Um, Lord Nazel?”
“Wait a little longer. Let me get my fill of you.” Lord Nazel’s behavior became bolder and bolder by the year.
It’s good that Lord Nazel has an environment where he can act selfishly, but...being sniffed is still embarrassing. I felt flustered in his arms.
“Oh, that reminds me. Just earlier, Defi informed me about the levee repairs,” I said.
“Yes, the schedule has been moved forward. Sorry.”
“It’s all right. All the commotion around the school recently ended too.”
“In that case, I want to bring you to work every day. I believe that I will make better progress at my work with you in the same room.”
“That’s impossible,” I replied after a pause.
As a matter of fact, the fortress employees had also told me things like, “Lord Nazelbart is in incredibly high spirits when you accompany him, Lady Agnes, so whenever you have the time, please come with him.” They always gave me a warm welcome whenever I visited the fortress to bring them refreshments.
But on the other hand, this means that Lord Nazel no longer keeps up appearances even in front of his subordinates, right? He’s completely put his “animated doll” nickname behind him. But going there every day would be too much. I had to refuse for the sake of Lord Nazel’s honor too.
“Let’s depart soon, Lord Nazel. We need to go all the way to the river at the border, after all.” I pushed Lord Nazel away with all my strength, but he didn’t budge an inch since he trained regularly.
With her work finished, it seemed that Dunk had gone to eat some grass; she’d disappeared before I knew it.
“Geni, Charite!” I called the two wyverns.
Charite was the purple wyvern Lord Davier had once ridden. She and Geni shared mutual love and lived together in our estate’s garden. The ever-curious Geni and the calm and gentle Charite got along truly great, and they were always together lately. Even when we went out, they came as a pair. According to a field guide I’d found in the manor, wyverns were animals with strong mating bonds, so I did my best to keep them apart as little as possible.
The wyverns must have heard me, because I heard multiple loud footsteps approaching from the back of the garden. Before long, I saw their pink and purple figures happily running up to me. Both of them were a darker color than usual. When wyverns fell in love, their skin changed color.
“We’re going out!”
The two wyverns cried happily and came close to us before stopping, looking curiously at Lord Nazel and me clinging to each other. I had no idea why, but Geni copied Lord Nazel and started embracing Charite with his wings. Perhaps the two of them thought it was some kind of game, as they seemed to be enjoying themselves; the sight was heartwarming.
Lord Nazel—who’d been sniffing me this entire time—seemed to have finally calmed down. He moved his handsome face away from my hair and had started regaining his composure. His red hair falling over his cheeks was captivating.
“Can we leave now, Lord Nazel?”
“Yes... I feel soothed.”
“All right, then please get on Geni. I’ll ride on Charite.” Charite had once been Lord Davier’s mountbeast, but she’d gradually grown used to me. She even let me ride on her back now.
It seemed that Lord Nazel had wanted to ride together with me, but he also understood Charite’s wish. He looked a bit lonely as he got on Geni’s back. Geni was happy to go on an outing and flapped his wings wildly.
“Heave-ho...” I also climbed atop Charite and took the reins.
Our destination was the river along the border. Since the embankments stretched out over a long distance, we’d have to visit several locations, starting with the areas that required repairs more urgently. Some areas had been flooded during the previous storm, but the damage had been less than anticipated. If there hadn’t been any levees, there wouldn’t have simply been floods; many houses would have likely been washed away. The thought itself was terrifying. It also seemed that the repaired levees had been built taller than before. I decided I should properly reinforce them with my magic.
Geni and Charite flapped their wings vigorously and gently soared straight up into the sky. Their flight was simply superb.
Charite flies more safely than Geni. Looks like a wyvern’s personality also comes out in the way they fly. If I had to describe it, Geni’s flying would be acrobatic. He flew freely, doing things like rotating depending on his mood or ascending suddenly. They’re both cute. Wyverns in general are cute... I rode across the sky with a smile on my face.
Wyverns were fast, so we flew past Sutrena’s central town in the blink of an eye, and the forest stretched below us. Once we passed the forest, we’d reach the river in a heartbeat.
Oh, there it is. The large Sutrena River flowed along the border; no one called it by its official name. It apparently had a different name in Polpystan.
“Charite, can you land in front of that river?”
Charite replied with vigor and started descending at a steady speed. Next to us, Geni performed a nosedive while rotating.